Microsoft, Apple and Adobe each gave evidence to the committee as to why their goods were more expensive in Australia than other markets, but declined to comment on the committee's findings.

The committee's chairman, Nick Champion, said geo-blocking was unfair when used to segregate global markets in order to make bigger profits, and pointed to "significant impacts" on Australian consumers and businesses.

"High IT prices can have significant impacts given the critical role IT plays in many areas of Australian life."

"What we want to do is make sure that consumers are aware of the extent to which geo-blocking applies to them and the extent to which they can lawfully evade them," Mr Champion said.

"That seems to be an area where I think, what is the consumer's right to shop around, in effect."

Other key recommendations in the report included:

reforms to the Competition and Consumer Act and the Copyright Act to remove barriers to competition, foster innovation, and ensure consumer rights are not lost in the transition to digital content; and

action to reduce the impact of high prices on Australia's most vulnerable social groups – the disabled, students and low-income Australians

Just getting three of the tech industry's heavyweights to the parliamentary inquiry was a feat in itself. Adobe, Apple and Microsoft were all invited to attend the inquiry's earlier public hearings voluntarily.In the end it took a summons to compel the companies to appear. Each had a different reason to explain the pricing disparities.Adobe said it offered a specialised "bespoke" experience for Australian customers.Apple blamed local copyright holders for higher prices on its local iTunes store.Microsoft said its prices were set and customers could vote with their wallets.Except customers couldn't exactly do that because of geo-blocking.Whether this new report will be the demise of the location-based artificial online wall is now in the hands of the Federal Government – but it's hard to find many consumers (and voters) who'd agree with the technique.

National science and technology reporter, Jake Sturmer

Consumer frustration over pricing inequality

Among the reasons given by company managers to the inquiry to explain price differences were: relative market size, exchange rates, wages, freight charges, local sales taxes, levies, import duties and the need to maintain separate websites and servers for Australian customers.

They also said they were charged higher costs by the entertainment industry for content destined for the Australian market.

The president of the Australian Commercial and Media Photographers, Lisa Saad, said that despite the committee's recommendations, she doubted much would change for consumers.

As an example she said, Adobe software used mainly by professional photographers - Photoshop and Lightroom - cost the same now as it did when the IT pricing review began, "about 50 to 100 per cent more".

However, Mr Champion told the ABC's The World Today program that the existence of an inquiry had already prompted several companies to address pricing inequality.

"The whole inquiry has been a wake-up call to the IT products industry, no matter where or what they're selling or what they're doing," he said.

"There's obviously a fair bit of consumer frustration out there, particularly in the area of downloads - where people cannot see any real justification for such great differentials in downloads.

"We've seen some companies respond to that by lowering their prices, and I guess that's what we want to see - a competitive market where consumers are empowered, and where companies still make legitimate and decent profits as a result of their innovation."

The committee acknowledged that questions remained over the legality of circumventing geo-blocks, saying in its report there was "uncertainty as to whether such actions are legal in all circumstances".

Of particular concern was any potential breach of the Copyright Act.

Consumer group Choice, meantime, has published guidelines to help consumers circumvent geo-blocking.

Choice spokesman Matthew Levey told the committee that geographical restrictions were "increasingly making no sense" in a global marketplace.